Chester man gets life sentence for shooting death in West Chester

WEST CHESTER — A 21-year-old Delaware County man who began running afoul of the law before he turned 13 years old was ordered sent to state prison Thursday to begin serving a life sentence for the shooting death of a West Chester man last January.

Sergio Droz, who fired the fatal shot that struck Jamal Ahmed Scott in the chest, apologized to the victim’s family, who sat in the courtroom as he spoke, but nevertheless drew an additional nine to 18 years on his life sentence by Common Pleas Court Judge William Mahon.

“You have been on this path” since the age of 12, Mahon said to Droz as he imposed the sentence, which also included payments for the victim’s funeral expenses. “You were doing no good and going nowhere. No, you don’t get a second chance. The loss of your life (to prison) will protect society from you being able to do this again. You cannot walk among us any more.”

Droz, 21, of Chester, was the gunman in the robbery and murder of Scott, 24, who had been lured to a spot on South Matlack Street to sell marijuana to an acquaintance who had contacted him in the late hours of Jan. 25, 2013. Droz fired multiple shots at Scott as he sat in a Honda outside the Apartments for Modern Living, as another man struggled with Scott inside the car.

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Scott drove to Chester County Hospital with a bullet in his chest, but died later the next morning.

Droz was convicted of second-degree murder, robbery, conspiracy, and firearms violations after a trial in November. At the time, his attorney, Jonathan Consadene of Media, argued that he should be found guilty of the lesser third-degree murder, because the fired at Scott thinking the victim was attacking a friend who was with him.

The sentence for second-degree murder is a mandatory life in jail without parole, and Mahon added consecutive sentences of five to 10 years and four to eight years on the charges of conspiracy and persons not to possess firearms.

Five men including Droz, all from Delaware County, were charged with the death. All but two have now been sentenced.

Scott’s mother, Beverly Scott, who has attended the sentencing hearings of the other men and spoken of how heartbroken she remains over the death of her youngest son, again stood in front of Mahon and recounted what she had gone though in the days and months since. She was hospitalized after being told of the murder, and said still goes to counseling to deal the trauma.

But she also expressed the anger she still feels against those who were responsible for her son’s death, especially for Droz, who fired the fatal shots.

“I feel Sergio Droz is getting the justice he deserves,” Beverly Scott said, reading from a written statement. “I am glad he will be rotting in jail, and so is Jamal,” she said. “I hope he haunts you each and every day.”

Mahon, speaking softly to Beverley Scott, urged her to try to put the matter behind her as much as she could. “I am sorry for you and your family, but here is some advice: Give up the hatred,” he said. “It is just going to consume you.”

Standing besides his attorney, Droz expressed his sorrow for Jamal Scott’s death and his family’s grief.

“I am very sorry for what I did,” he told the judge before sentencing. “It ain’t easy. It’s going to be hard. I know it was foolish. I am very sorry.”

Mahon noted that Droz had been in trouble as a juvenile when he was 12, 15, 16, and 17, and then committed two more crimes when he was 20. “Now, you’ve graduated to murder,” he said.

The five defendants involved in the robbery plot that led to Jamal Scott’s murder included Droz, Anthony Brightwell, Tyrone Palmer, Calvin Thompson and Nafis Janey. All are from Chester, with the exception of Janey, who is from Brookhaven.

According to authorities, the group came to West Chester the evening of Jan. 25 armed with two handguns, a .45 caliber and a 9mm semi-automatic, both purchased by Palmer at a Delaware County firearms dealer. They looked for someone selling drugs who they could rob, finally contacting Scott via cell phone.

When Scott arrived at South Matlack and East Union streets about 10:45 p.m., Brightwell got into his car and at some point pulled the .45 caliber pistol he had been given by Palmer on Scott. The men struggled, and Brightwell accidentally fired a shot into the ceiling of Scott’s car.

Droz, waiting outside the Honda, walked up to the car, pointed the 9mm he had been given by Palmer at Scott, and fired three times. Two of the bullets struck the door panel, but one smashed the drivers’ window and hit Scott in the chest.

Janey and Thompson have pleaded guilty to charges of third-degree murder in the case. Both were sentenced by Mahon to 15 to 30 years in state prison as part of plea agreements.

Brightwell also entered a guilty plea, but Mahon rejected its terms when it appeared he could face a longer sentence that the 25 to 50 years he agreed to if the prosecution wished to increase the length of time. He is currently awaiting trial, as is Palmer.